My Tuesday treasure from T+J designs (A tiny reveal)

Hello Friends,

Happy Tuesday! Ready for a fun little reveal?

YOU LIKE?

So I was in the market for a statement bracelet, and since the Hermes collier de chien bracelet was a tad bit out of my price range ($1200- Waahhhhhhhhhhh) I decided to focus on more affordable options. When my eyes caught this sparkly stunner from T+J designs, I was instantly smitten. For those of you who aren't familiar with T+J Designs, it is a newly launched design company by two of the most fashionable sisters this side of Bloggerville: Jen of Red Soles and Red Wine and Tiffany of I am Style-ish. Honestly, I am really amazed at how the blogging community supports eachother, so when I hear that a blogger is doing a give-away or opens an Etsy shop/web store I try to check it out and support as best that I can. And when I hopped on the website I just couldn't resist this gorgeous pyramid bracelet. I love the contrast of the bling bling crystals mixed with the gold and the patent black. Very glam, and as stunning as it looks in the pics believe it or not it looks better in real life:

The best part was when my husband asked me the price. When I told him to guess, he said: "I don't know, maybe $125?" I'm so happy to report that the total cost (including shipping, taxes and an online promotional discount) was $51.00 CAD. That's a small price to pay for something that will be so versatile in my closet.

And speaking of versatile, my kids have a use for the bracelet as well:

Ahhhhh.... Look, one crazy lego man is escaping!!!!!!!!!

Go ahead, laugh, I know that you want to!

So if you're in the mood for some serious eye candy with prices that are pretty gentle to your wallet check out T+J designs here.

And what about you? Have you purchased anything from an Etsy shop or a blogger's website lately?


Thanks so much for reading, and hope that you have a terrific Tuesday!

OOTD: A Bolt of Color

Hello Friends,

I wore this outfit to work yesterday, and one of the guys in finance came up to me and said: 'Wow, you're such a bolt of color'. Hell yes! For someone who practically lives in neutrals, I was elated to hear this!

Here I am wearing those bright blue pants again (last shown here). When I was debating whether or not to buy them, the salesperson simply said to me: "just wear them like you would regular jeans". And boy was she right. For those of you who are afraid of trying out colored pants you would be surprised at how extremely versatile they are. To the point where I've had to stop from wearing them at least three times a week. They are THAT.AWESOME.

To dress up these babies I paired them with my el-cheapo H&M flutter top and a splash of bling with a statement necklace that I bought at Banana Republic for 70% off.  Seriously, this surge of color literally has me jumping for joy:

Oh yes, it is that happy day, isn't it???

Thanks for reading, and have a fantastic weekend :)

Eyebrows gone wrong- The before and after

Hello Friends:

The biggest mistake I made when I was 16 (besides wearing acid wash jeans and having mullet hair) was tweezing the crap out of my eyebrows. My goal was to have my brows look like they did on Kate Moss (remember, from the old CK ads?) but guess what? 25 years later, her eyebrows grew back, and mine didn't. From that point on I have never ever tweezed my brows, as even looking at a tweezer makes me really nauseous :)  From my tweezer happy days I unfortunately still  have a few bald spots and when I don't get my brows groomed regularly I risk looking like this:

Seriously though, it's been 6 months since I've done anything to my brows. They were desperately in need of a makeover so I decided to get butt to my local eyebrow salon to get them trimmed, threaded and razored (?). I've been going to SHUKU for a few years now. She is truly a miracle worker when it comes to brows, and here is the proof:

Here are the BEFORE pictures: (UGH)

And, after 5 minutes with Shuku, here is the AFTER:

This is my HAPPY BROW FACE!!!!

Holy smokies! I'm always amazed at how a quick brow tune up could really brighten up your face. I'm really a big fan of threading as it doesn't leave my brows looking red and irritated  (like waxing and tweezing does). And, at $20.34 (including tax!), it's so much cheaper then botox.

So it's time for you to dish: Do you have any eyebrow horror stories? Do you tweeze, wax or thread?

And, on a totally unrelated note:

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO MY CANADIAN PEEPS!!!!!

Thanks so much for reading, and have a terrific tuesday :)

A little Friday Treat

Hello Friends,

*** First of all I wanted to say thank you so much for everyone who experessed concern over my last post- the update is that my grandmother is okay, out of the hospital (granted she is 88 and I'm amazed that she is still kicking around) and regarding my son's 'bully' incident, they are now friends (thanks to the help of the school principal). Life is good and you guys are awesome!!!!


ANYWAYS..............

So I met my husband yesterday for a date during lunch hour and we ran into a friend of mine. After a few minutes of chit-chat we were each on our merry way. 30 minutes later, I get this text from my friend:

'Hi, I didn't want to mention anything infront of your husband, but, did you get a new bag?'

BUSTED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, technically, the bag isn't new, per say. I bought it months ago while I was in the States (as Balenciaga bags are so much cheaper in the U.S then the are in Canada) and I kept debating whether or not I was going to sell it. But I finally decided that it's definitely a keeper and was waiting for fall for it's debut:

Balenciaga Black City Bag in Giant Silver Hardware

I cannot tell you how much I love this bag. I love the leather, the detailing, the size. It's that bag that every time someone walks by with it I would always do a double take. That's when I knew that I had to have it. What can I say, I'm drawn to Balenciaga bags the way that Charlie Sheen is drawn to crack and cheap hookers.

And here's a quick outfit shot with the bag:

I apologize for the re-run outfit from the soccer mom post- but i really like how it looks with the bag!

Anyways, I was planning on doing my first VLOG about why you should consider purchasing a Balenciaga Bag.

Should I do it? Hmmm......

Thanks so much for reading! And by the way, even though the day is almost over:

Happy Friday!!!!!!!

You should take a 'ME' day

Hello Friends,

Last week was not the rosiest of weeks. In between dealing with grade school bullies, finding out that my grandmother was in the hospital and hearing the tragic news of one of my besties I kind of hit a low point. To put it midly I was BURNT.OUT. I needed a day off, to recharge and just take my mind off of 'everyday' life for a change. So on Friday I decided that I would play hooky from work take a mental health day and here's a sneak peek at how I spent my day:

I decided to start my glorious day off with a morning at the Nova Spa, right in the center of Yorkville. I was lucky to get a last minute appointment for a massage and wasn't sure what to expect as it was my first time there. I have to give kudos to this spa, my experience there was truly awesome (and I am very picky when it comes to spas). From the moment I entered this place I felt the knots in my shoulders starting to disappear. The spa had great facilities like colorwet sauna (heaven!) a relaxation room with current magazines (and not from 2005 like i've seen at other places) and my massage therapist was absolutely amazing. She did not have wimpy hands, and I left the massage feeling like mush:

After my short little nap, my growling tummy reminded me that it was lunchtime, so I got ready in a zombie-like state and proceeded to the Windsor Arms Hotel to meet a dear friend of mine for High Tea.

Now I already discussed my experience having high tea here, however, I just wanted to show how gorgeous this hotel is:

And of course what 'ME' day wouldn't be complete without a little bit of window shopping on Bloor Street (otherwise known as the mink mile)? And you know what is even more fun? Trying on uber-expensive things that I could never afford, just for the hell of it!.

First stop, Chanel, to try on this (f*ck) $4750 tweed jacket:

Then, last stop was the infamous Hermes (which I had never been to, by the way). I avoided the purse section and made a beeline for the bracelets, essentially driving our poor sales person nuts sneaking pics with my iphone:

From left to right: Clic-Clac bracelet, Forgot the name of the middle one, a lizard Collier bracelet

Honestly, my 9 hours of me time (the equivalent of a full workday) left me feeling energized and I hopped around with an extra spring in my step. I had not felt that relaxed in months weeks, and strongly encourage everyone to take a day off, and do something that you love. Life is too short to not take time to enjoy yourself and have fun, especially in this crazy rat race of a world that we live in.

So what about you? When was the last time you took a 'me' day? And what would be your perfect day off?